Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Dobbs

Publications and source records attributed to R Dobbs.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Adolescent girls. I. Self-reported mood disturbance in a community population.

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to fill gaps in our knowledge of the rate of mood disorder in teenage girls in transition from school to further education, employment or unemployment. METHOD: Girls aged 15-20 years (n = 529) whose names were drawn from general practitioner age/sex registers were interviewed at home and completed the Great Ormond Street Mood Questionnaire. Their mothers completed the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Social background variables were obtained. RESULTS: Of the girls, 20.8% scored over the cut-off point previously established to indicate risk of psychiatric disorder. Scoring over the cut-off point was not associated with age or parental social class. It was associated with parental separation/divorce (P < 0.004), with maternal self-report on the GHQ (P < 0.001), and with parental unemployment (P < 0.04). Lowest self-report scores were obtained by girls who had left school and were in employment (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: About one in five of girls aged 15-20 are at risk of affective disorder. Self-reported mood disturbance is associated with a wide range of social and familial background variables, but not with age or parental socioeconomic status.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1994

Adolescent girls. II. Background factors in anxiety and depressive states.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the prevalence and background variables associated with anxiety and depressive disorders occurring in a community population of older teenage girls. METHOD: Girls aged 15-20 years (n = 529) whose names were drawn from general practitioner age/sex registers completed self-report Great Ormond Street Mood Questionnaires. From this sample, 143 girls (69 with high self-report scores and 74 controls) were intensively interviewed. Information was obtained on confiding/supportive relationships, family arguments and rows, quality of marital relationship, and degree of parental control. Psychiatric state was assessed by use of the Clinical Interview Schedule to provide a Total Weighted Score. A modified form of the Bedford Life Events and Difficulties Schedule was applied. RESULTS: The estimated one-year prevalence rate for psychiatric disorder was 18.9%, and 16.9% for depression and anxiety disorders. Using a logit analysis, it was shown that maternal distress (P < 0.02) and the quality of the mother's marriage (P < 0.02) were independently associated with the presence of depression and anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: About 17% of girls in a community sample living at home showed a depression or anxiety disorder. Even in late adolescence, the presence of a mood disorder is closely linked to the quality of family relationships within the home.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Dose-dependent pharmacokinetics of the aldose reductase inhibitor imirestat in man.

The pharmacokinetics of imirestat were studied in healthy volunteers following single and multiple oral doses. After single doses of 20 to 50 mg, imirestat plasma concentrations declined with an apparent elimination half-life of 50 to 70 hr over the 168 hr in which levels were measured. However, with lower doses (2 to 10 mg), an initial rapid decline in drug concentration was followed by a very slow terminal elimination phase with plasma concentrations decreasing little over the 1 week of sampling. This resulted in a decrease in apparent t 1/2 with increasing dose, from 272 +/- 138 hr at 2 mg to 66 +/- 30 hr at 50 mg. During once-daily dosing of 2 to 20 mg/day for 4 weeks, mean steady-state imirestat concentration appeared to be dose proportional, although the time required to achieve steady state decreased with increasing dose. The mean effective half-life for accumulation ranged from 54 to 98 hr, suggesting that the very slow elimination of drug at low concentrations did not produce disproportionate accumulation of drug at these doses. Mean oral clearance was independent of dose, ranging from 30 to 45 ml/min. At the 2-, 5-, and 20-mg doses, one subject in each group had steady-state concentrations two- to fourfold greater than any of the other five subjects at the same dose, although the reason for this was not apparent from these data. The overall kinetic profile of these data was suggestive of dose-dependent pharmacokinetics resulting from nonlinear tissue binding of imirestat.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Cataract and health status: a case-control study.

Data from 97 cataract patients and 105 normal controls with ages less than 67 years were collected with respect to sex, age, disease status, drug intake, and blood chemistries. The statistical method of fitting log-linear models was used to determine the association between the case-control indicator variable and the other variables. The following variables were shown to be important and to associate independently with the risk of developing cataracts: age, allergy, diabetes, hypotension, hypertension, use of analgesics and coronary disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Cataract epidemiological study: correlation of cataract morphology with health status.

Data on 288 cataract patients were collected with respect to sex, age, disease status, drug intake, and blood chemistry. Eight different types of lens opacities could be discriminated using slit-lamp examination, Scheimpflug photography of the anterior eye segment, and microdensitometric image analysis of the film negatives. The statistical method of fitting log linear models was used to investigate the association between cataract morphology and other variables. The following variables were shown to be important and to contribute independently to the differentiation of cataract types: cholelithiasis, pneumonia, heart insufficiency, allergy, and age.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Measuring life events in an adolescent population: methodological issues and related findings.

Issues surrounding the collection of accurate information about the life events of girls aged 15-20 were tested on 67 mother/daughter pairs in a community sample. The Bedford system of classifying and rating the events was modified to accommodate the perspective of an adolescent. Mothers recalled fewer events than their daughters, but the difference was most marked for the 'severe' events of girls aged over 17. There was a marked fall-off in the reporting of severe and non-severe events after the 30th week, and a significant difference between the rate of events in the furthest 6 months, compared with the proximal 6 months.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Screening for abnormal eating attitudes and psychiatric morbidity in an unselected population of 15-year-old schoolgirls.

The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) have been validated in an unselected population of 15-year-old South London schoolgirls. Scores on the questionnaires were compared with the results of standard interview. The EAT was found to be an efficient screening instrument for abnormal eating attitudes and behaviour, whereas the GHQ was less satisfactory in its ability to screen for psychiatric morbidity in this age group than in adults. At the optimal cutting points, 6.9% of this population gave a positive response to the EAT and 19.3% gave a positive response to the GHQ. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the two sets of scores. Compared with their peers, girls giving a positive response to the EAT also reported that they missed more meals during the day and that their weight was more unstable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Douglas as editor.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1976

Identification of glucagon-producing cells (A cells) in dog gastric mucosa.

An immunocytochemical technique using specific antiglucagon serum reveals the presence of glucagon-containing cells situated exclusively in the oxyntic glandular mucosa of the dog stomach. Electron microscope examination of the mucosa demonstrated endocrine cells containing secretory granules with a round dense core surrounded by a clear halo, indistinguishable from secretory granules of pancreatic A cells. Like the alpha granules of pancreatic A cells, the granules of these gastric endocrine cells exhibited a peripheral distribution of silver grains after Grimelius silver staining. Moreover, the granules of these cells were found to be specifically labeled with reaction product, using the peroxidase immunocytochemical technique at the ultrastructural level. Accordingly, these cells were named gastric A cells. These data suggest that the gastric oxyntic mucosa contains cells indistinguishable cytologically, cytochemically, and immunocytochemically from pancreatic A cells. It is believed that gastric A cells are responsible for the secretion of the gastric glucagon.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Glucagon: role in the hyperglycemia of diabetes mellitus.

Glucagon suppression by somatostatin reduces or abolishes hyperglycemia in dogs made insulin-deficient by somatostatin, alloxan, or total pancreatectomy. This suggests that the development of severe diabetic hyperglycemia requires the presence of glucagon, whether secreted by pancreatic or newly identified gastrointestinal A cells, as well as a lack of insulin. Glucagon suppression could improve therapeutic glucoregulation in diabetes.

Animals↗